volosong

I posted my experience in the 41, but we all know what happens there. It probably would have been better to post it here. This is just a short note for those of use who need a little bit of extra help getting up those hills.

Briefly, the new Shimano Ultegra 12-30 CS-6700 cassette is available. My shop ordered two and I pick up one of them tomorrow. I had to ask, and it helped that one of his suppliers were in the shop at the time. Might pick up both of the ones he ordered.

Earlier this week, as a test, I fitted a Tiagra 12-30 on my Dura-Ace 7900 rig and it works just fine. I'm running a compact on the front and up until now, a 12-28 on the rear. I did not have to add any links to the chain and the short cage RD handles the extra two teeth okay. Note: Shimano says that this combination won't work, so I can't guarantee that it will work on your setup. I just know that it works on mine and that I will welcome that extra gearing when I hit those 9-11% grades. Mount Baldy Ski Lifts ... here I come.

Posted just for info. More details in my post in the 41 if you're interested.

Big Pete 1982

Good to know, thanks for the info. I usually do ok with my Ultegra setup with 50/34 and 12-28 but occasionally when the hills get real steep I'd like another gear! I might have to try it out and see if it will work. I thought about going SRAM Apex for the 12-32 but I don't like the way SRAM shifters work compared to Shimano.

PhotoJoe 

Thanks for the info. It's good to know.

vesteroid

if only I could get one by tomorrow!

My crazy wife just signed me up for our second metric, and this one has 5300 feet of elevation gain....and its saturday morning...oh my aching legs

Wolfwerx

You can probably use that SRAM cassette with your current setup... many of Shimano's and SRAM's parts are fairly interchangeable. Depending on your rear derailleur, you may have no issues at all. Worst case, you'd need a derailleur with a longer cage, but you shouldn't need to change your shifter at all.

volosong

+1
What you will need to watch for are chain length and cage length. A SRAM cassette will play nice with Shimano, (both 10 spd. of course).

vesteroid

yes but with a full ultegra compact setup, I dont think you can simply swap over to a pg 1070 1032 cassette can you? And I know I cant use a sram RD with the shimano brifters so then that means going to some sort of shimano long cage or MTB RD I suppose and if I had to do all that, I would just get a wifli force group and be done with it.

So hoping the ultegra cassette will work fine with my existing setup

Hill-Pumper

I have been looking into this set up for my wife, good to hear positive feedback on it. Right now I have a 12-27 with a compact 50/34 which I can make work on every hill that I have tried, but the Mrs. might need a little more gearing. I will have to get a newer 105 rear derailleur and Tiagra cassette to see if she can pull up some of our hills around here.

TrojanHorse

Why not? The parts are compatible. Whether your RD can handle the increased tooth count is another story but you can swap Shimano and SRAM chain parts.

RDs are pretty cheap compared to a whole group.

Juan Foote

I run the (5700?) 105 setup which was equipped with a 11-25 cassette. I tried to install the Tiagra 12-30 and my short cage 105 RD jockey wheel would not clear beyond a 28T. Shimano says that the short cage will not work past 27T, so I installed a Tiagra mid (long) cage RD in order to accommodate it. My understanding is that the new 105 is made with a longer cage, and will.

Mithrandir

Neat. When I was having my new bike built up in November, I originally specced it out with the 12-30 cassette. The bike shop however convinced me to go with 11-34 instead. While the gears are further apart, it's turned out to be a rather good decision, because there's many hills around here that I just can't get up without the 24/34 low gear. I shudder to think how I'd hurt myself trying 24/30.

I think maybe when my weight drops to 300-325 I'll switch out to 12-30. We'll see. I miss the 1-tooth differences of my old 12-27, but I could never do hills on that bike.

Wolfwerx

Yes, you can. That's what I was explaining above. The only "iffy" part of the deal might be your rear derailleur, if it has a short cage. Your shifter does not matter in this case.

rdtompki

It takes less than 5 minutes to change a cassette. Nothing wrong with putting on a MTB RD, sizing the chain for the largest cog you'll be using and swapping cassettes depending on the ride. Wouldn't do it every day, but I've got an 11-32 on my single and I'd be fine with a 12-27 for anything but a climbing ride.

vesteroid

I suppose I am still not getting it. Ae there more than one type of ultegra 6700 rd? Is there a short cage and a long cage? Or are you saying if the stock(assuming there is only one kind) ultegra rd won't work, then I have to go to some sort of shimano mtb rd? If so which one would that be that will work with the rest of my setup?

volosong

Yes, there are two different RD-6700 models, (not counting the two colors). They are speced as: RD-6700 SS, (short cage), and RD-6700 GS, (long cage). When you see "RD-6700" by itself, that is the silver version, when you see "RD-6700-G", that is the "glossy gray" version. The SS versions says that the total capacity is 33 teeth or less, the largest sprocket is 28T, the smallest sprocket is 11T, and the front chainwheel tooth difference of 16 teeth or less. For the GS version, 39, 28T, 11T, and 22. The long cage is usually used with their 6703 triple crankset.

Do a Google search for "Shimano technical documents" and that will direct you to all kinds of tech docs for their product line. For Ultegra, they have docs for the 65xx, 66x, and 67xx series.

- - - - -

To others, I picked up my 12-30 CS-6700 on Friday. Installed it on my wheel, but haven't had a chance to ride the bike as I'm changing rear tires and got involved in taking all the cassettes off my bikes, taking them apart and cleaning them in mineral spirits. I took pictures side-by-side between the 12-30 and 12-28. It is surprising to see how different they are. There are no technical documents inside. Just some one-page warning to not disassemble or modify the cassette. Now, how stupid is it to say something like that? Pictures to follow after I get everything up and running.

Buck_O

Have you done any extensive riding with the SRAM DoubleTap? It took me a couple rides to get used to my Rival levers, but the quick crisp actuation of the shifts is hard to overlook. If i hop on a friends bike with a Shimano group (even DA or Ult), i hate it. Yeah, its "smooth", but at the expense of speed and feedback.

I will say that Shimanos front shifting is better, however.

Buck_O

You can swap cassettes, chains between SRAM and Shimano just fine. SRAM builds their components to Shimano spec. So they will work fine. Any SRAM or Shimano road chainring/crank will also work with either brands chains and cassettes. Of course, same for same always works a little better, but not always. (for example i prefer a Shimano chain on my SRAM groupo)

What you cant mix, is shifters to derailleurs. Shimano uses a 2:1 pull ratio on their cable, and SRAM uses a 1:1 pull ratio. You can, through some creative adjustment, use a Shimano front derailleur with a SRAM shifter, but its not perfect.

Also in the case of using a Shimano mountain rear derailleur, not all of the Shimano MTB stuff uses the same pull length. Some of them actually use SRAMS 1:1 cable ratio. If you get the right MTB RD that works with your shifters, there will be no issues using the larger Wi-Fli SRAM cassettes.

But alot of the Shimano medium/short cage road RD's only have, i believe, a 27 tooth limit (sorry, didnt see this had already been discussed at the time of typing). So a 12-28 cassette might be a little to close for comfort. Technically it SHOULD be able to work. But there are some vital hinging and geometry differences with SRAM and Shimanos derailleur cages that allow the SRAM cage to not lunch its bogie wheel into the cassette itself. Which is an almost certainty on the older Shimano components. (Again, didnt see this had been discussed until after i typed, but at least its confirmed for you now)

Either way, there should be a cheaper alternative (i.e. getting a compatible Shimano MTB RD for less then $100) to get you into a Wi-Fli cassette, or similar shimano MTB gearing, then having to spring for an upgrade set of group components. (I.E. shifter, cassette, RD, possibly FD, and about $350 out of your wallet)

eldavid

Thanks for the info. Today, I found an LBS that also just got two and I grabbed one to replace my 11-28 CS-5700. I have an RD-5700 and it shifts just fine after a turn of the adjuster barrel. The 11-28 didn't have a spacer installed (maybe because I lost it after switching it on so many wheels), but I installed the 12-30 with its spacer.

volosong

It's good to get independent verification. The 12-30 could become a game-changer for Shimano ... once they get units out into the marketplace. Most shops are not very well informed and so far, all have doubted it even exists ... until I show them the spec sheet or actually show them my bike with one installed.

As an update...I've been running the Ultegra 12-30 for awhile now, and LOVE it! Most of the time, I don't need that 30t sprocket, but just knowing it is there give me confidence to tackle any hill I come across. When I do elect to use it, it allows me to maintain a much quicker cadence than I would be able to maintain otherwise. Also, I got a BG Fit about a week ago today, and the fit tech removed one link on my chain after the fit. At first he didn't believe that I can run a 12-30 with my mid-cage Dura-Ace RD, but when I showed him during the fit ... well? What could he say. He removed the link to allow smoother shifting. Who woulda thunk?

Buck_O

Thats...impressive.

eldavid

I went and "tested" the cassette on a route w/ 4000+ ft. of climbing (Tour de Peninsula). The cassette gave me no issues whatsoever, even under load going uphill (of course, I wasn't standing, sprinting and shifting uphill). At one point, I was on the 50 ring and shifted to the 30 cog without realizing it. When I saw it, I had an "oh crap" moment and shifted up to the 27 cog (50-30 would probably work fine, but wasn't going to chance it). On the descents, I miss having an 11 cog, but it's worth the tradeoff.

Edsplace

Came across this thread through a Google search. Very informative. My current setup is an older Ultegra 6600 Group with short cage rear derailleur, Shimano 50-34 chain set and 12-27 cassette. I bought it new and have upgraded as parts have worn. About ready to replace cassette and chain due to wear and would like to go with the new 12-30 cassette. So the question, all things equal, by upgrading to the RD 6700 SS rear derailleur, the 12-30 cassette will work fine without any real world issues or do I need to look into a MTB read derailleur?

Thanks in advance!

tc

volosong

tc, about your specific situation, I can't really say. On my two Ultegra triple bikes, I have the GS RD, and on the D/A bike, it is a mid-cage, (the only way it comes). If you could see a 7900 D/A RD side-by-side with an Ultegra SS RD, then that would be a good indicator. So far, no negative issues on either my GS or D/A rigs. I do miss that 11t on occasion, but gladly give that up for some help when the road tilts up.

TrojanHorse

Edsplace - if I'm not mistaken, the indexing is in the shifter, not the rear DR, so you might need to replace that too. The spacing between cassettes on the new 10 speed ultegra is narrower and I'm really not sure if you could switch out the spacers and ditch one cog to make it work. If you take your question over to the bike mechanics forum there's probably somebody who would know for sure.

Wolfwerx

I'm not sure I'm reading your post correctly... are you upgrading the cassette, or derailleur, or both? At any rate, I'd suspect that your road rear der will work with 30 teeth. That would probably be the limit for a short cage, I'm thinking.

A mtb. derailleur won't be necessary.

You shouldn't need a new shifter.